Effects of sex and reproductive state on interactions between free-roaming domestic dogs.
Free-roaming dogs (Canis familiaris) are common worldwide, often maintaining diseases of domestic pets and wildlife. Management of these dogs is difficult and often involves capture, treatment, neutering and release. Information on the effects of sex and reproductive state on intraspecific contacts...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2014-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4277450?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1819327359256363008 |
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| author | Jessica Sparkes Gerhard Körtner Guy Ballard Peter J S Fleming Wendy Y Brown |
| author_facet | Jessica Sparkes Gerhard Körtner Guy Ballard Peter J S Fleming Wendy Y Brown |
| author_sort | Jessica Sparkes |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Free-roaming dogs (Canis familiaris) are common worldwide, often maintaining diseases of domestic pets and wildlife. Management of these dogs is difficult and often involves capture, treatment, neutering and release. Information on the effects of sex and reproductive state on intraspecific contacts and disease transmission is currently lacking, but is vital to improving strategic management of their populations. We assessed the effects of sex and reproductive state on short-term activity patterns and contact rates of free-roaming dogs living in an Australian Indigenous community. Population, social group sizes and rates of contact were estimated from structured observations along walked transects. Simultaneously, GPS telemetry collars were used to track dogs' movements and to quantify the frequency of contacts between individual animals. We estimated that the community's dog population was 326 ± 52, with only 9.8 ± 2.5% confined to a house yard. Short-term activity ranges of dogs varied from 9.2 to 133.7 ha, with males ranging over significantly larger areas than females. Contacts between two or more dogs occurred frequently, with entire females and neutered males accumulating significantly more contacts than spayed females or entire males. This indicates that sex and reproductive status are potentially important to epidemiology, but the effect of these differential contact rates on disease transmission requires further investigation. The observed combination of unrestrained dogs and high contact rates suggest that contagious disease would likely spread rapidly through the population. Pro-active management of dog populations and targeted education programs could help reduce the risks associated with disease spread. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-24T13:09:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6f38b050d90d4296b372acc4ac9fafbb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-24T13:09:35Z |
| publishDate | 2014-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-6f38b050d90d4296b372acc4ac9fafbb2022-12-21T16:53:56ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032014-01-01912e11605310.1371/journal.pone.0116053Effects of sex and reproductive state on interactions between free-roaming domestic dogs.Jessica SparkesGerhard KörtnerGuy BallardPeter J S FlemingWendy Y BrownFree-roaming dogs (Canis familiaris) are common worldwide, often maintaining diseases of domestic pets and wildlife. Management of these dogs is difficult and often involves capture, treatment, neutering and release. Information on the effects of sex and reproductive state on intraspecific contacts and disease transmission is currently lacking, but is vital to improving strategic management of their populations. We assessed the effects of sex and reproductive state on short-term activity patterns and contact rates of free-roaming dogs living in an Australian Indigenous community. Population, social group sizes and rates of contact were estimated from structured observations along walked transects. Simultaneously, GPS telemetry collars were used to track dogs' movements and to quantify the frequency of contacts between individual animals. We estimated that the community's dog population was 326 ± 52, with only 9.8 ± 2.5% confined to a house yard. Short-term activity ranges of dogs varied from 9.2 to 133.7 ha, with males ranging over significantly larger areas than females. Contacts between two or more dogs occurred frequently, with entire females and neutered males accumulating significantly more contacts than spayed females or entire males. This indicates that sex and reproductive status are potentially important to epidemiology, but the effect of these differential contact rates on disease transmission requires further investigation. The observed combination of unrestrained dogs and high contact rates suggest that contagious disease would likely spread rapidly through the population. Pro-active management of dog populations and targeted education programs could help reduce the risks associated with disease spread.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4277450?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Jessica Sparkes Gerhard Körtner Guy Ballard Peter J S Fleming Wendy Y Brown Effects of sex and reproductive state on interactions between free-roaming domestic dogs. PLoS ONE |
| title | Effects of sex and reproductive state on interactions between free-roaming domestic dogs. |
| title_full | Effects of sex and reproductive state on interactions between free-roaming domestic dogs. |
| title_fullStr | Effects of sex and reproductive state on interactions between free-roaming domestic dogs. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of sex and reproductive state on interactions between free-roaming domestic dogs. |
| title_short | Effects of sex and reproductive state on interactions between free-roaming domestic dogs. |
| title_sort | effects of sex and reproductive state on interactions between free roaming domestic dogs |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4277450?pdf=render |
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